(Last year, Matt and Bob Hagin tested checked the '97 Mercury
Mystique LS but the version they tested had an automatic transmission
but they find that the five-speed model feels like a different car.)

BOB - Driving cars like the Mystique with a five-speed could get me
hooked on stick-shifts again, Matt. The LS we tried before was a
pleasant enough car and had lots of amenities that made it a comfortable
commuter machine, but this manual transmission has turned the car into a
nimble sports sedan. It also has disc brakes in back, a feature not
found on the automatic model. The only thing that would make it better
would be a Mercury Mystique version of the Ford Contour SVT. The SVT is
basically the same car as the Mystique, with the same 2.5 liter V6, but
its suspension is tighter and the engine produces another 25 horses.

MATT - To tell you the truth, Dad, I didn't notice much difference
between this Mystique and the Ford Contour SVT that we had a couple of
months ago, except that the Mercury seemed to be a little more
"elegantly" trimmed out and it cost less money. Its quarter-mile
acceleration times aren't a whole lot slower either, and one of the
reasons may be because our test car carried a 4.06 axle ratio, which is
the lowest available for the Mystique.

BOB - Along with the cosmetic changes that the company has made on
the nose and tail of the '98 Mystique, there's been some mechanical
changes, too. The somewhat quirky shift mechanism that everybody
complained about in the '97 stick-shift models has been upgraded with a
new cable-operated device and the clutch pedal mechanism has been made
softer, too. There are other versions of the car available, the base
model being called simply Mystique and the GS version being the next
step up. The only engine available in the base version and the GS is a
2.0 liter twin-cam four banger, but for '98, it's been pumped up
with a new variable camshaft timing mechanism that gives it more power
than the previous model. Although overseas Ford has offered engines with
variable cam timing, it's the first time the system has been used on a
Ford car for the U.S. market.

MATT - The LS has aluminum 15-inch wheels and wider, stickier tires,
and I'm sure that the upgraded rubber adds to the handling of the car.
When Suzanne drove the car, she noticed a couple of things that hadn't
occurred to me. She said that she liked the fact that she could see the
hood of the car from the driver's seat, and that made it easier for her
to parallel park on downtown streets. She got a kick out of the
glovebox, too. She hadn't driven a car that had shock absorber-like
pneumatic "struts" on the glovebox door that prevented it from slamming
open.

BOB - There's a couple of options that I think are almost
necessities on the Mystique we had. The anti-skid braking system cost an
extra $500, and the $100 power operation of the antenna keeps it from
being snapped of by obstreperous kids in strip-mall parking lots. I'd
have to try the standard sound system before I'd justify an extra $275
for an upgrade, but I think that $245 for the non-functional spoiler on
the trunk lid is a waste of money. I can see where the optional
integrated child's seat is great for a guy like you with a couple of
little kids, but for the $305 it takes to buy the optional
power-operated driver's seat adjustment system, I'd rather slide the
seat forward by hand.

MATT - I don't think it makes all that much difference to most
people, Dad. Lots of functional options make a car more valuable at
trade-in time and their cost is just tacked onto the monthly payment.
The Contour and the Mystique have a clone in England called the Mondeo
and it's identical to the cars here.

BOB - That's not exactly correct, Matt. We rented one when we were
there. The hubcaps are lots weaker and they keep falling off.

MATT - That's not how Mom tells it. She says they came off because
you kept hitting the curb trying to park the right-hand drive Mondeo on
the left side of the street.